


Flash: Friend?

by just_chaotic



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bullying, Coming Out, Forgiveness, Friendship, I fixed a few things, I love MJ, Movie Night, Truth or Dare, and/or endgame erasure, but she does have a little lesson about cancel culture type stuff, flash is like zuko, he wants to be a good guy, maybe more like correction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 14:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19947934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_chaotic/pseuds/just_chaotic
Summary: After Europe, Flash does some maturing and thinking. He wants to make nice, and build a friendship with our main trio. At a very awkward movie night, MJ suggests Truth or Dare instead to try and break the tension. The group learns important things about one another and Flash learns some important things about himself.





	Flash: Friend?

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a little one shot from my idea of an alternate sort or storyline where Flash realizes he was a dick and tries to be friends with Peter, Ned, and MJ. I'm trying to present the idea that he is changing his characterization a bit, trying to be less mean; this may make him seem out of character, but I'm hoping the point gets across. He is still snarky and perhaps a bit cocky, but his world is being turned upside down and he doesn't want to risk messing things up with his new (hopeful) friends, so he is trying hard not to be a jerk and maybe mutes a little of his less soft traits to try and accomplish that.

Peter still felt… uneasy, to say the least. Flash was here, with him, Ned, and MJ on movie night. _Flash_. As in, Eugene Thompson, bully and general asshole extraordinaire. Apparently he was a good guy now. Like Zuko, from Avatar. And Peter was willing to give him a second chance, even though Ned and MJ were dead set against it. But he convinced them to just try. The worst that could happen is Flash turns out to be lying about trying to be nice and mend bridges, and even then, it’s not like their relationships with him could really deteriorate beyond what they were before. None of this meant that Peter was entirely comfortable sharing a couch between him and Ned. MJ had chosen the recliner. Smart move.

Flash, for his credit, seemed humble about the whole thing. In reality, it was more like terror that anything he did or said could get him kicked out, which wasn’t far from the truth. But to put a positive spin on it, he simply seemed grateful to be included and ready to go with the flow that the three friends had already established. 

After Europe, Flash had approached Ned, MJ, and Betty and apologized for the way he acted in their mortal peril in London. He also acknowledged that he wasn’t really all that popular online and he realized that when the few comments and interactions he did have started pointing out how much of a jerk he was being. He deleted the accounts and remade his own personal social medias to follow his friends, but didn’t vlog anymore.

He also apologized to Peter, though a few months after his apology to Ned, MJ, and Betty. Peter had no idea what would have inspired this, seeing as it probably wasn’t evident on his vlogs that Flash picked on Peter, and therefore the viewers wouldn’t have pushed for it. He did notice Flash staring at him when May picked him up in the airport. Flash’s parents had sent a driver for him. Happy was of course around when he got home, but so was May. She had been worried sick about him. Peter couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Flash. He knew that Flash had money and both parents, but that didn’t mean everything was perfect. But what did Peter know? Nothing about Flash’s family or home life, that was for sure. Maybe it was normal, and fine. Anyway, Flash was unusually quiet for a few weeks after that, and then summer vacation started. 

Peter didn’t think about Flash until the last week of summer, and even then it was only some general annoyance at the prospect of dealing with his shit again. But Flash shocked him on the first day with a genuine apology. Peter remembers feeling exasperated as he watched Flash walk up to him at his locker before homeroom. He had even considered walking away but figured it better to let Flash get some of the first-day stuff out of his system. Maybe then the rest of Peter’s week could be semi-peaceful.

Flash, instead of stopping a ways away and speaking to Peter across the hall, like Peter had thought he would (so the whole hall would hear, of course), came right up to Peter and looked him in the eye. Peter swears that is the first and only time he has seen Flash look terrified. Not scared like when Spider-Man landed on his car, or freaked out like he was in the elevator, or nervous like he gets when Peter does well in class or Decathlon. Flash looked terrified, like he was making a life or death move. Granted, Peter wasn’t there for Flash’s experience in the drone attack. So maybe this isn’t the only time he has looked so terrified, but it’s the only time Peter has seen it.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been an asshole for years and I’m trying to be better. I have no excuses, I just wanted to apologize. If you never want to speak to me, that makes perfect sense, but seeing as we have two years left of school and Decathlon together, I really hope you can forgive me, at least a little. So things can be kinda normal. Maybe even… we could try being friends. But anyway, I’m sorry, Pe-Parker. I’ll leave you alone now.” He walked away, leaving Peter with his mouth gaping open and eyes wide, probably looking like a fish. What the fuck? What the actual fuck? Peter almost got scared for a moment that Mysterio and his illusions were back. But no, that had been taken care of. Another fail-safe from Mr. Stark. Any media or communication using internet access couldn’t say the words “Spider-Man” and “Peter” or “Parker” within 60 seconds of each other, and would simply freeze until a classified PR rep verified that his identity wasn’t in danger. This almost never was needed, until Beck’s weird post-mortem video and the Daily Bugle mishap.

Actually, over the summer, Flash had been a pretty big supporter of Spider-Man. There was still some negative attitude after the video, even without the identity reveal. But Flash simply kept sharing the good glimpses of Spider-Man online. Now that he has a smaller following of mostly people he knew, it wasn’t so impactful, but it was still nice to know that even though it was Flash, people still believed he was good.

So, after the issue blew over for the most part, Flash was still a big Spidey fan. And Peter accepted that. But it still made no sense why Flash had apologized to him. _Peter_. But here they were, three weeks later in Ned’s apartment because it has the second-coolest parental unit and the larger entertainment space of the number one and number two options. MJ’s parents didn’t particularly show enthusiasm about her inviting friends over, and Flash had nixed his house as a meeting place. Peter and May’s apartment was even smaller than their last. Ned, however, was a happy host. 

About halfway through the first Harry Potter (Flash was being re-baptized to Harry Potter, as he hadn’t read or watched them since elementary school), the awkward silence was almost unbearable. Peter, Ned, and MJ weren’t having their usual banter, and Flash seemed painfully aware that this was the case. MJ finally suggested they turn the movie off and just when things seemed to reach a maximum point of awkwardness that would result in early termination of movie night, she suggested Truth or Dare.

“What are we, twelve?” Flash scoffed, before rightfully slapping his hand over his mouth. There were about two beats of silence before Ned and Peter burst into fits of laughter at his predicament. MJ even smirked a little more gently than usual. Flash really was programmed to be an ass, even when he wasn’t trying to be. But this wasn’t mean-spirited. It seemed reflexive, and he was rightfully ashamed. “Sorry, habit. Being mean. Doesn’t make it okay. We can do that, Truth or Dare sounds fun.”

“You gotta chill, dude. I know we weren’t exactly on board with this, but we aren’t gonna murder you or throw you to some sharks or whatever,” Ned said with seriousness that he typically only reserved for chewing Peter out over being reckless as Spider-Man. “Peter wants this second chance to happen, and honestly, I’m coming around. And so is MJ, even though she won’t say so.”

“No comment,” MJ deadpanned. “But he is right. You can be sassy and sarcastic. We know that’s part of your personality. Just keep it fun, light. It will help us trust you more if you aren’t afraid to just act like yourself.”

“I don’t really know what that is, to be honest.” Flash looked at his hands in his lap. 

“Well as long as it’s not an asshole, you can figure it out with us,” Peter said. “Truth or dare?”

“Uh, dare?”

“I dare you to…” Peter paused to think. Ned interjected.

“Eat one of our labuyos!”

“One of your what, now?” 

“It’s a pepper from the Philippines, hang on a sec!” Ned hopped up to run to the kitchen. Flash looked to Peter, seeking approval? He seemed satisfied with Peter’s smile and nod.

“Okay, here you go. And a glass of milk for after.” Ned set the glass down in front of Flash on the coffee table and handed him a small dried pepper on a napkin. 

“You guys do know that I’m Guatemalan? We eat spicy food, too.” Flash smiled despite his evident nerves. He picked up the pepper. 

“A dare’s a dare, Flash,” Peter quipped.

“That’s right. Bottoms up,” MJ added. Then, Flash bit the whole thing off from the stem and started chewing. It took about three seconds to go downhill. 

“Holy shit!” 

The others started cheering for him to finish it, and he kept chewing and exclaiming and cursing. He finally managed to swallow it down and then immediately grabbed for the milk, guzzling nearly all of it in one go. MJ sneakily got the whole thing on video. Not to post, at least not yet, but just to look back on it later.

Flash took it upon himself to get up and go raid the freezer. He came back with ice cubes in his empty milk glass and put one in his mouth, sighing with relief.

“I’ve heard that water and ice aren’t really great for getting the spice away,” Peter said helpfully. 

“I doh-t caer, Pah-kuh,” Flash griped through his ice cube, never moving it from the center of his tongue. Everyone laughed, and Flash even smiled a bit. When he was in significantly less pain, he even laughed along with them. 

After a few more rounds, Ned had successfully pulled the “Is your refrigerator running?” prank call on Abe and Cindy, and they all found out that Ned’s most irrational fear was a snake in the toilet, which he developed after watching a compilation video on Youtube. MJ had shown them the youngest picture of her she had on her phone (age 8, and she looked adorable and dangerous, like a baby lion or something), put mayonaise in her hair to see if it made it softer (“White people, I swear to god, Peter.”), _and_ she ate her own labuyo pepper, seemingly handling it much more stoically than Flash, until about ten seconds had passed. Her reaction from that point was nearly identical to his, and she squeezed onto the couch to steal ice cubes from his cup. For a moment it looked like Flash wanted to be indignant when she fished one out, but he ended up just smiling softly. MJ looked at him like he was a particularly weird bug, but he didn’t notice.

“You know, water-,” Peter started, but MJ shoved him off the couch. Everybody laughed.

“MJ, how come you chose all dares? Don’t want to share your truths with the group?” Ned teased with a poke at her side, and she glared back. 

Ice cube on her tongue, she bit back at him, “Yuh can’th handul teh truph.”

Peter had confessed that his biggest superhero crush was Thor, which Ned knew but MJ and Flash didn’t. He also admitted that the title of biggest superhero crush changed from Iron Man to Thor shortly after he met Tony. He edited the story because Flash didn’t know about Spidey, but essentially, meeting Tony Stark and being his intern made it seem inappropriate to have a crush on him. Now, their whole mentor-maaaybe father figure thing seemed much better. And obviously Thor was hotter. Peter’s only dare had been a rather merciful one from Flash, which was to eat a mini donut on a string without using his hands. MJ got some wonderful video footage and they all had a laugh.

Flash had, like MJ, only chosen dare’s so far. In continuation of the food theme, he had eaten an oreo with toothpaste instead of icing, and made a call to a local pizza place and made them explain to him the difference between New York pizza and “real” pizza. 

“Truth or dare, Flash?” Ned asked.

“D- uh, truth,” Flash stuttered. Peter raised his eyebrows and Flash simply smiled, clearly miles more comfortable than he was at the beginning of the night.

“Who is your crush? Or your most recent, if you don’t have on now,” MJ prodded. Flash seemed to freeze but resolve himself.

“Uh, remember Melissa? From before the blip? She didn’t get blipped, so she’s older now, but that’s my most recent.” He curled in on himself a bit, seeming a little embarrassed.

“Aw, I remember her. She was so cute,” Peter said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. MJ’s eyes narrowed but she kept her face mostly passive. Ned just grinned and agreed.

“Yeah, I loved her freckles. I never really met her but she seemed sweet!”

Flash gave a dry laugh, “Ha, yeah. Too sweet to ever consider getting with me. But I liked her anyway. She just got her Master’s this year. Weird to think we just two grades apart.”

“Yeah,” Ned sighed. 

“She was pretty unique,” MJ added. Peter gave her a bit of a side-eye, guessing at where this was going. She was testing Flash.

“For sure. I mean if not for her, I wouldn’t have realized I... “ he trailed off. 

“You what, Eugene?” MJ said, tone steely. 

“I just, like all kinds of people, I think. Hearts, not parts, and all that.” Peter wanted to face palm. Flash had been doing so well. Melissa was the first out trans person at their school, and MJ definitely had been testing Flash. And he failed. 

“So you’re bi? Or pan?” she interrogated. “You don’t have to answer of course, but if it makes you more comfortable, I’m pan and ace.” Peter knew that the openness wasn’t actually a comfort or an effort to share about herself. More like a distraction. She was leading him like a pig to slaughter.

“Um, I guess? I hadn’t really labelled it.” Flash fiddled with his shirt.

“That makes sense. Because having a crush on her wouldn’t really be any indication that you also like guys, right? What is it that makes you think you like guys too?”

“I didn’t really say that, though... “ Flash mumbled, and Peter took pity on him.

“You’re right, you didn’t say that, MJ is just trying to get you to say the wrong thing,” Peter said pointedly, ignoring the gut-wrenching fear he felt calling her out.

“I’m not exactly trying hard, Peter. You of all people should hear this for what it is,” she answered plainly. 

“Yeah but you’re setting him up to fail and not taking the opportunity to help,” he explained. She stared at him blankly and finally waved her hand to Flash while looking at Peter. _You do it then_.

“Flash, everyone in this room is queer in some way,” Peter began, knowing that Ned was okay with this after checking for a nod from him. Their communication, even nonverbal, was impressive. “What MJ wants to know is, why did liking Melissa make you think you were something other than straight? Seeing as Melissa is still a girl. And there are valid answers to this, it isn’t a trap, but knowing you and your history of bullying, well, it’s easy to assume the wrong thing, here.” Peter felt satisfied with that. Flash thought it over and chose his words carefully. 

“I guess… I read a lot about attraction when I realized my crush on her. Like, I do consider her a girl. Completely. But knowing that maybe she had different parts than I was used to associating with a girl made me think that maybe I could like those parts on a guy, too. I never really thought about it much after that, because I was mostly focused on her.” Peter gave a pointed look to MJ, who simply raised her eyebrows as if to say, _fine. He isn’t horribly transphobic. But maybe still problematic_. Maybe Peter read too much into the eyebrows.

“That makes sense. And it’s a valid experience. Just maybe be careful when talking about it, because you don’t want to make it seem like her body or her transness was the reason you realized you’re queer. She is a girl, like you said. ‘Hearts, not parts’ is a good sentiment in theory, but it doesn’t always sound good when talking about trans people. Because for many of them, their gender identity despite or in regards to whatever parts they have is actually pretty important.” Peter was calmer than he thought he would be about this. Ned looked sympathetic, and MJ looked impressed.

“So… it’s like I wasn’t _fully_ thinking of her as a girl in my mind, even if I thought I was?” Flash responded quietly.

“I mean, I didn’t say that and I wouldn’t accuse you of it. But unfortunately, that can sometimes be what it sounds like when a straight person says ‘hearts not parts’ about a trans person of another gender. Or even a gay person about trans people of the same gender. It’s like, I love this person even though they’re not truly a part of the group that I say I’m attracted to. It’s almost never intended that way, but it’s just a tad risky to say.”

“I guess that makes sense. If I really put her gender above the rest, I would still think I was straight.”

“Well, not necessarily.” Peter took a deep breath, never expecting to have this conversation with Fash of all people. “Interacting with… or crushing on someone… with new, uh, parts can clue you in to other attractions. It’s just something you have to be careful about saying and how you phrase it.” Peter was sure he was red as a tomato. Ned was flushed too, quietly staring at his lap. MJ looked confident as always, but Peter could tell she was humbled by his own nicer way of handling this. It showed in how her lips pursed a little tighter than usual.

“I think I understand,” Flash said. “Maybe I do need to rethink some things, though.” 

Ned finally spoke up, patting Flash on the shoulder from around MJ. “It’s all good, man. Learning those things about yourself never happens overnight.” This made Peter laugh, which confused MJ and Flash.

“What’s funny?” Flash finally asked.

“Well, Ned, for you it really did happen overnight!” Peter laughed more. 

“Okay, that’s fair,” Ned amended. “But usually not.”

“Wait, I have to hear this story,” MJ insisted.

“Not really a story, but after Betty and I got together, on one of the last nights in Europe before all that shit went down, we- we were, uh, well, making out and things got a little intense and I realized that I was super not into it. Like, at all. Then I went back to my room, looked up some gay porn, and it clicked.” Ned was embarrassed but willing to share.

“Wait, you mean the room with Pe-Parker?” Flash exclaimed.

“Peter wasn’t in the room!” Ned quickly insisted. Peter had been out on his walk with MJ.

“Damn, Leeds. Didn’t see that coming,” Flash said with a smirk, though, not an unkind one. “”Not the gay, thing, I mean the nearly hooking up on the field trip thing. Not that I saw the gay thing coming, either. I mean, I wasn’t making assumptions. I’m just- I,” Flash groaned and swallowed. “I’m trying not to accidentally be an asshole.”

“Mission accomplished, Flash. You were not accidentally an asshole just now,” Ned reassured him with a laugh, which made Flash smile. 

“Wait, so, Parker, you said everyone in here is queer in some way. If you don’t mind me asking, what do you identify with?” Flash asked after a pause. Peter considered him for a moment. He just looked thoughtful, curious. Maybe he really had changed. After all, they all had just had a very fun night, despite the awkwardness at the beginning. But was it worth the risk? He could just say bi. That wasn’t bad and he wasn’t exactly in the closet, though not many people knew it just for the fact that not many people knew him well enough or spent much time with him. But he wasn’t secretive. He could just say that. 

But part of him wanted to trust Flash. The guy almost certainly had a not so great relationship with his parents, and most of his asshole friends had sort of distanced from him when he started being nice to Peter. They didn’t bother Peter or Ned anymore, but they didn’t really talk to Flash much either. He had been so nervous all night and trying too hard to say the right things. Maybe he really did want to be part of the group. Peter thought about the way he smiled when MJ got an ice cube from his glass. He wasn’t happy about sharing. Maybe he was happy that she was comfortable enough to do that. Maybe he felt included for once. Peter wanted him to have this second chance. So he buckled down in his mind.

“Well, I am bi, or pan, either word works fine for me. And I’m… trans, too. Like Melissa.” Flash did remarkably well at keeping his face passive. Peter thought of all the possible thoughts going through Flash’s head and began to panic. What if he thought that Peter didn’t pass well? What if he thought that Peter was a pervert? They had shared a locker room for years. May had let him socially transition after elementary school, and when he first went to Midtown in seventh grade, no one knew him. He started making his own T when regular stuff didn’t cut it after the spider bite, so he thought his voice had been dropping, but maybe he had been wrong about that, and maybe-

“I. Called. You. ‘Penis.’ For _years,_ ” Flash actually choked up a bit. “Peter, I’m so sorry. I know I shouldn’t have called you names anyway, but- Jesus, _fuck_. Why am I such a dick?” Flash drew his knees up to the couch and tossed his head back to stare at the ceiling. Peter thought he caught a glimpse of watery eyes, but from his angle on the floor where he stayed after MJ pushed him, he couldn’t see now.

“Flash… I forgive you.” Peter said. “And I appreciate you acknowledging that it was wrong. But I don’t want you to be miserable and beat yourself up about it-”

“I don’t know, maybe he can beat himself up a little-” MJ started. Ned _shhh!_ ’ed her. 

“I was going to say, I don’t want you to beat yourself up about it forever. Yeah, it sucked. Especially because of my own identity specifically. But you didn’t know that, and now you do. And now you’re pretty committed to just not being a bully in general, which is the most important part, right?” Peter peered up at Flash, whose head was still tilted back. “Flash?” 

“Yeah, most important,” Flash said breathilly. He finally looked down again, and Peter saw that he actually did have tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry for crying, I know my problems aren’t the same and I have different privilege, I just, I, I-”

“Flash!” Ned spoke up. “It’s okay to cry, dude.”

“I… know. I just feel like my guilt over being a douchebag isn’t really anything compared to being called, _god_ , what could essentially be considered a slur, for literal years and dealing with me being a ridiculous ass the whole time.

MJ finally showed a little mercy. She bumped him with her shoulder and told him, “That doesn’t make it less painful, though.”

Flash smiled at that. Eyes still watery, he nodded and looked back at Peter.

“Do you mean it? You forgive me?”

Peter was surprised that this was the first thing Flash asked. “Yeah, Flash. I forgive you. It will take a while for me, and really all of us, to really trust you, but stuff like this? It certainly helps,” Peter smiled.

“What, me being a crybaby?”

“Exactly, man! What are best friends for if not to see you when you cry?” Ned answered enthusiastically.

“He has a point, Eugene,” MJ added, much kinder than she had been all day.

Peter got up and made to scooch MJ and Ned over so he could squeeze between Flash and MJ on the couch.

“Maybe now we can try to give Harry Potter another go, huh? This time, with proper commentary,” Peter said slyly. 

“Whatever you say, Par-Peter.” Flash smiled at him. Whatever inspired this change in him, this maturation, or this weird desire to be friends, Peter was becoming more and more okay with it. When they got to the troll scene, Flash laughed and pointed out that this was like them.

“Only instead of a troll, it’s gay panic and transphobia lessons,” he quipped. Peter was impressed, because that was a riskier joke than Flash might have presented otherwise. But all it did was make him laugh. And they all laughed, together.

**Author's Note:**

> I made a correction about how old the OC Melissa was because I realized that even with five years of blip, her being the same age as the Spidey gang wouldn't have really given her enough time to get a Masters Degree. So now instead of being in their grade pre-blip, she was two years ahead :)


End file.
